Some sixty thousand workers went on strike at seven factories of the multinational Taiwanese shoe manufacturer Yue Yuen, in the Southern Chinese city of Dongguan on 14 April. Workers demanded their full social security entitlements and housing fund contributions. Workers from Yue Yuen first took strike action on 5 April, […]
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After years of struggle, union activists have won 11 of the 12 seats in the union election at Maruti Suzuki factory in the Gurgaon industrial zone, near New Delhi. This win is enormously significant, given the constant attacks against this union since it began organising workers in 2002. 147 members […]
While the terrible conditions for garments workers in Bangladesh are now routinely discussed in the world’s media, they are not the only workers suffering a terrible price in the ‘Race to the Bottom’. The industry of shipbreaking is concentrated in the three South Asian countries of Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. […]
The situation for workers, and in particular, worker activists continues to remain grim in Iran, with many in jail. Shahrokh Zamani, a member of the Syndicate of Paint Workers of Tehran and the Committee to Pursue the Establishment of Workers Organisations was sentenced to 11years of jail in 2011 for […]
It has been almost a year since Wu Guijun was detained for organising a strike at the Diweixin Product Factory in Shenzhen. The trial for these ‘offences’ has just started, with Wu facing up to three years in prison if convicted. In contrast to past trials of worker activists, the […]
Australian journalist Peter Greste’s detention in an Egyptian jail on trumped up charges is one of the many dangers that journalists face as they try to do their job. Many other journalists in the region have felt the weight of authority via abductions, arrests or being murdered. In Turkey alone, […]
The current political crisis in Thailand has reached an impasse with both sides of the ruling class not able to defeat the other. Nevertheless, this impasse has serious implications for workers and other activists. Recent debates have now raised the issue of racism with attempts to scapegoat migrant workers from […]
In late March, thousands of dockworkers went on strike for the right to retain industry wide bargaining and for real wage increases. They also wanted an end to the increasing use of casualised and contractualised workers. In the same month, workers at Japan Post also took action calling for a […]
The last couple of years have seen continued mobilisations and repression in both Bangladesh and Cambodia. In Bangladesh, as the one year anniversary of the massacre of Rana Plaza approaches, the global campaign for compensation for the victims continues. Just last week, Sumaya Khatun, a 16 year old who worked […]
Since the election of a new right wing government in Australia late last year, the situation for asylum seekers has gone from terrible to disastrous. The Government has militarised the northern border of the country, has clamped down on almost any reporting on the issue, and has made it illegal […]